The Story of SPARTAN-114
by BamItsTyler
Summary: This story follows the life of Julie Del Camp aka Spartan-114 and her squad, purple team as they go through conscription, augmentations then later, the defense of planet Renaissance from covenant attack, then post human-covenant war.
1. Prologue

This is my first story! Please review, not too shabby for a beginner :L... :)... _

**Prologue/Pilot **

**0322 hours May 1st, 2517 (Military Calendar)/Sol System****, Toronto, UNSC civilian head office.**

**Planet Earth **

* * *

"Sycamore?" a woman said sat at her messy, yet clean temporary office. She liked clutter, its what gives her a sense of mind as she sifted through her datapad. "Yes Dr. Halsey?" Sycamore said appearing out of a console in her desk , Sycamore was one of many "Smart" AIs, used by the UNSC to do many tasks a human couldn't keep up with, he was a supercomputer that could fit in a tiny microchip. He was glowing light green and wearing a fitted suit and slicked back hair. He had a charming look to him as he smiled at the doctor. "Give me the current documents that we have on Julie Del Campo", "Right away doctor.", Dr. Halsey looked at the data pad as the information showed up on the little girl. "Hmm." Halsey grunted as she took a sip of her coffee closing the blinds of her office, blocking out the sounds the busy Toronto streets below, for a city of 30 million people it's very uncrowded. As Dr. Halsey read Julies school file, she couldn't help but smile. _"**Julie is a sharp yet, very outgoing student. her physical activity levels are very applauding for a girl her age, she competes at a 8th grade level. her parents believe that the death of her brother, ODST Corporal Trey Del Campo is the spark for her focus on physical activity and schoolwork.**"_ the summary of the girl could go on, there was news articles on how athletic she was at such a young age, but Halsey seen enough. "Sycamore, tell Lieutenant Keyes to prep and meet me downstairs in the lobby.., we're going to meet little Julie" Halsey said putting on her over coat and rushing out the door. "Alright, Dr. Halsey. take care!" he said as he disappeared into the console.

"Ma'am?" Lieutenant Keyes said meeting up with Halsey. Halsey looked at the young officer, he had a very boyish look to him, very handsome. he was wearing a brown suit. "Hello Lieutenant , take me to Wallace-Fujikawa Elementary please." she sat in the passenger side of a civilian warthog, "Sure thing ma'am, who are we scouting next..?", Halsey passed the data pad over to him. "Julie del campo." she said with a smirk as Keyes examined her file with amazement, he set the ignition and started his drive to the school.

as they drove up to the school kids were being let out of classes and being picked up by their parents. Halsey and Keyes looked around, Halsey saw Julie and other schoolchildren run into the gymnasium area, she pointed to the direction they went in and followed. they both sat down at a park like bench with other parents watching the dodge ball team tryouts Julie enrolled herself into. the gym was very well funded, almost as if it were constructed by the armed forces.

"she's quite the beautiful child" Keyes said to Julie's parents as Halsey nodded in agreement, "Thank you!" Julies mom said as she shook the lieutenants hand. "**If only she knew what our intentions were... she wouldn't be saying the same thing**." Halsey thought to herself as she continued observing Julie. Julie was black with metallic eyes, her jet black hair was straight and braided in double pigtails, she had a light blue bow on the left side of her head. the fire in her eyes had the look of a winner, her black tracksuit gave her a tomboyish demeanor. Lieutenant Keyes looked at the rest of the children around Julie, noticing the giant age gap between Julie and the rest of the kids, "yep" the father was taking now "my little Julie is going to be on the Grade 8 dodge ball team." he said with a look of pride.

Julie held against the wall with her team and waited for the whistle to blow. as the coach blew the whistle Julie stood and leaned against the wall smirking as the rest of the children on her team hap haphazardly ran towards the balls laid out in the middle of the gym, the dodge balls were small as miniature globes, the other team was quicker. they got the balls and started taking out Julies teammates one by one.

once the game was in its 3rd minute, the last person on Julie's team had gotten out. "Give up Julie!" a kid by the name of Mark called out, Julie's jealous tormentor. The kids on his team laughed, Julie smirked and within an instant bolted to the enemy teams line, Mark lobbed the hard red ball at her, in a burst of speed she jumped into a roll, dodging the ball, another kid threw a ball and she caught it in mid air and threw it in a Spartacus throw, Mark's mouth widened as the ball bounced off his head knocking him to the ground and hit the kid who threw the ball making him do a front flip. "**4 left!**" Julie thought as the rest of the opposing team whipped their dodge balls at her, she did a cartwheel dodging one, she caught two taking two members out and throwing them back in rapid succession, hitting the remaining team members thus taking the entire opposing team out. everyone looked at her in amazement "most of those kids are 5 to 6 years older than she was.. how could she keep up.." Keyes said playing with his pipe given to him by his grandfather, The doctor nodded in agreement, Julie wasn't the average 6 year old, her motor skills are superb for a girl in her age group. Mark got up and walked past Julie and glared at her as did the rest of the opposing team, "..freak!" he jeered as the rest of his team laughed at her. she looked down at the floor with anger and rubbed her shoulder, as he walked passed her he picked up one of the balls and tried to lob it at Julies head, in a instant she kicked the ball back without it hitting her. knocking the boy off his feet, blood running from his mouth and nose. the coach had lead her to the schools office with her shocked parents following on as Marks friends held him upwards.

"I think I've seen enough, just one more thing and we'll be on our way.." Halsey smirked as they got up to follow the parents to the Office. as they followed them she saw Julie outside the office on a bench waiting to be called in. "hello there, those were some great reflexes back there!" the doctor said as she placed her hand on Julies shoulder. Julie looked up, "Thanks?, who are you..?" she said, "I am Ms Halsey.", "I'm Julie Del Campo!." she said with a smile. "and you sir?" Julie said as her eyes sparkled at him, "I am Mr. Halsey.." Keyes said gruffly as he felt a sharp pain hit his side, the doctors elbow. he gave her a stern look and turned back to Julie, "Nice skills out there " he said handing his hand out to shake, "Thank you sir!, did you read the newspapers?!, they have a lot of stuff on me!" she said as she returned his handshake with a adult grip. **"Very polite.."** Keyes thought to himself as he looked on, "how did you know that he was going to hit you?" the doctor asked, "I'm not sure, its like I have a pair of eyes at the back of my head.." Julie said. Dr. Halsey looked up into the air and looked back down into her purse and got out a vintage Canadian Dollar. Julie's eyes lit up as she saw the still shiny gold dollar."This coin is from the 21st century, this is heads she took 5 steps back. "Julie, what is on this side of the coin?" Halsey asked "a woman" Julie replied, "Very good!" she flipped the coin on the reverse side. "what's on this side may I ask..?" "a bear!" "good, good.." the doctor said, very pleased. "the side with the woman is heads, the bear tails.. I'm going to flip the coin a couple of times and you will guess which side it lands on, please tell me which side will land on the back of my hand." Halsey flipped the coin and Julie called out "heads!", she was right, the next time she called "tails!" and she was right again, Halsey has seen what she wanted to see and was done with Julie.. for now.

"Thank you Julie, it was very nice meeting you.", Julie nodded and sat back down "Could we play some more!?" she asked, "No I'm sorry Julie, we really must get going.." Halsey said as she and Keyes walked towards the exit. The doctor and Keyes started towards the warthog, "Lieutenant, data pad please." the doctor held her hand out as he passed it to her. she checked her name off the list, "did you get the recording of the game..?" "Yes Ma'am". "Have a flash clone of her prepped within the next 3 months the latest". she felt bad for sending yet another child who had a very promising future to years of pain and suffering, but then again... it was that or humanity as we know, or it's potential demise.

* * *

Later on that night Julie thought about that weird lady she had met later that day. she remembered the coin game they played, that was fun for her, she was used to people being intrigued with how cunning she was, and the lady and her husband must of been fans of her. Julie sighed and opened her side drawer with a, dog tag, a crucifix and a worn picture inside. she put on the dog tag and took the picture out and looked at her brother, Trey. Trey, with his buzzed jet black hair, armor and a rifle in his arm was posing with members of the 105th, ODSTs. she gripped her nightgown and slowly slid down beside her bed, "he was a good person..and son." Julie was startled and looked up to see her mother and father looking down at her, "I miss him.." Julie sighed and put her head on her knees and curled into a ball, "We miss him also Julie.." her mother said soothingly, her father picked Julie up and tucking her into bed, her mother leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, "one day, when I get older, i'll join the UNSC and fight the rebels!" Julie said, her father laughed and rubbed her stomach, "one day Julie, one day..", "good night Julie" her mother smiled and both her parents left the room, she was glad she had parents like she did. she looked outside her window into the snowy winter wonderland, and saw what appeared to be her brother, shoveling snow, he smiled and waved. Julie rolled back over and sighed, she remembered when he left her for the last time, they were at a military parade. his last words to her stuck in her mind like super glue.. she dozed to sleep.

_August 5th, 2516, _

_"Trey, please don't go!", Julie whined and screamed, ducking under the velvet rope blocking the spectators, and ran towards him and his formation then hugged him by the leg, the entire parade stopped and the crowd sighed in aw. Trey meant everything to her.. she gripped his waist and held tight, she started to cry as the crowd started to cheer and clap. Trey got down on one knee and wiped her tears away, "it's okay Julie!.. ill be back I promise, I gotta go defeat the bad guys.." "The bad guys?" Julie whimpered "Yeah!, there's some really mean people called the insurrectionists!, they're bad people Julie, I'm going to fight so that people like them, don't take away your freedoms.." he smiled and ruffled her hair. "Listen.." Trey sighed as he ripped off his dog tag and crucifix then handed them to Julie, he then balled up her left hand into fist with the necklaces in them. "One day, you're going to be a hero.. you'll defend earth and ALL of her colonies. and you're going to beat up all the insurrectionists in the galaxy. promise me you'll keep on doing you no matter what happens to me." "I will." Julie smiled "now keep those things for me! i'll be needing them back once I get back!" Julie looked down at the things Trey gave her, he then hugged her and the crowd began cheering again, he carried Julie back to his mother and father, "Remember what I said Julie!" he said running backwards and pointing at her, he then joined his formation and started marched down the street. _

_December 17th, 2516,_

_it was a snowy late afternoon as Julie and her parents were coming back from the shopping center after Christmas shopping. Julie ran beside her mother and father in circles, "Treys coming home, Treys coming home!" she was thrilled that her brother was coming home from his tour next week, although he didn't say that himself, the usual peacetime tour was only a couple months, due to the war against the insurrectionists not actually being "declared". he had kept her promise to return to her and Julie couldn't wait, they could go walking, make cookies, play with her Christmas gifts, the possibilities between her and him are endless!. they got into her dads car and he pulled out of the lot. "Are you happy that treys coming back..?" her father asked as she nodded so fast that her head could pop off. they drove to their home, Julie loved her house and always felt shocked she was living in a house like this. bridle path was a historical high end neighborhood centuries old, filled with giant mansion like houses. as they pulled up to the gates of their home, Julie saw Two marines in ceremonial dress uniforms, and black trench coats. "oh no.." Julie's mother whimpered as she buried her face into her hands, Julie was confused "mommy what's wrong..?", Julie's dad came from out of the car and approached the two Marines, her mother followed suit. Julie peered out the window as her mother fell to her knees on the snowy ground, sobbing, her dad just looked as if he got into a fight with a woman and got slapped in the face. his face was turned left and slightly up into the air, one of the marines bowed his head. Julie got out of the car and tugged one of the marines, "wheres trey!?" she yelled, the marines shook their heads, "Julie.." her father took in a deep breath, "Trey passed away", Julie twitched as her father tried to comfort her, she backed away, shocked. how could this be.. she had so many things planned. Julie walked up to the gates then fainted into the lush white snow. _

_December 20th, 2516 _

_there was an aura of silence during the funeral. Julie had cried so much the past few days, there was nothing left to cry out. her family and friends were all around, but she just wanted to be left alone to ponder.. she didn't focus on the eulogy, the flag folding of the 105th and the flag of Canada was somewhat interesting to her.. she snapped back to reality as the Drill Sergeant Standing in front of her barked orders, "**Present..ARMS!" **he shouted as a line of 10 marines lifted M392 rifles in rapid pace, Trey taught her about weapon designations and told her that those rifles were called "DMRs" for short. **"Aim!"**, the Sergeant looked dead straight at Julie, **"Fire!", **the firing party fired one round out of their rifles in rapid succession. Julie was sad and scared. by the second volley, she thought of all the words Trey said that day, about her doing her no matter what. by the third rifle volley Julie wasn't scared anymore, she became like her brother, mature. when she became mature, she put childish things away. **  
**_


	2. Chapter 1: Rude Awakening

**Chapter 1: Rude Awakening **

**Halsey memo: Subject 114 aka Julie Del Campo, was found with a dog tag from her deceased brother, we have read his files and Chief Mendez and I both agreed that this item she has with her will make her push herself to the limit.. and possibly beyond, due to her strong bond with Corporal Del Campo, and therefore, will not be confiscated from her. **

**2300 Hours September 23, 2517 (Military Calendar ) / Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex,**

**planet Reach**

Dr. Halsey tugged at her lab coat and groaned, was she really going through with this.. sentencing a bunch of six year olds to a life of military service.. as if they were going to comprehend everything she was going to say to them in the next half hour..she took the thought out of her mind, what she's about to do will be the only solution to the UNSCs problems, they would be able to crush rebellions single handedly.. this program will avoid a full scale civil war and prevent more lives from getting extinguished, regardless of what happens within the next seven years, it was mandatory that she go through with this project head on. " Mendez, Prep them and get them down here.".

* * *

Julie woke up clasping her chest, she coughed violently as two people held her down. Julie looked at the two women, one was wearing a lab coat, the other was in military uniform. The doctor peeled Julies eyelids open and checked to see if they dilated and went back to her datapad, she looked to the woman in military uniform and nodded, she looked down to Julie and tugged her out of her cryo pod, "get up now!" the soldier shouted at Julie.

Julie got up and fell to the floor, throwing up clear slime, once she was done she looked around her, there was doctors and soldiers everywhere, there were children her age also. The doctor attending Julie gave her another shot, Julie sighed as she felt the liquid through her veins. "lets get a move on!" the soldier tugged Julie's arm and moved towards slide doors where everyone else was going, "Where am I!?" Julie tugged at the woman prodding her towards the doors, Julie studied the woman. the woman had full, but short brown hair and tan skin, her name tag read "Rodriguez". before Rodriguez could act, there was a ear piercing shriek coming from behind Julie.

she saw a girl about her age struggling with two soldiers, a doctor came and calmed her down with sedatives, the girl crumpled into a heap as the two soldiers dragged her along. Julie winced at the sight as Rodriguez looked at her sternly, "don't try anything stupid.." she said in a light Spanish accent, Julie nodded as they went through the slide doors to a hangar bay, Julie realized they were on a navy ship, Rodriguez and the other soldiers huddled Julie and the other children into pelicans. Rodriguez strapped Julie in and moved towards the cockpit,**_ "Where am I!?"_ **Julie wondered to herself frantically, the last thing Julie remembered was her mother and father tucking her in when she was sleeping she felt a cold breeze but she brushed it off.

Julie gripped the handlebars as the pelican roared to life and flew towards the planet, Julie looked to her left and right, all the children were confused, scared, like she was.. Julie felt a hand clasp hers, she looked to her left, it was a boy holding her hand, he looked her age, was white and had slick black hair and blue eyes. Julie shrugged it off, she felt as if she was going to pass out but luckily the ride was over.

as the pelican hatch opened the other soldiers and Rodriguez took them out of their seats and hustled them towards a building, once they were inside she saw a portrait of the President of Earth and the Commander In Chief of the UNSC. the group moved towards a giant blast door guarded by Marines, the marines moved and they were hurried to a giant amphitheater , they were then sat down, Julie felt Rodriguez's hand clasp her chest holding her down as she stood up, Julie looked at the stage and saw a hologram that looked like a goddess, another solider decorated with medals and the same woman she met at school this time she wasn't wearing a sundress. "Ma'am where am I?" Julie asked, "Quiet down trainee!" Rodriguez retorted, "Face front!" Julie frowned and faced forward. **"Trainee..?" **she thought to herself. Julie was tired, too tired to decipher what was going on, she focused on the stage.

the woman she saw at school walked up to the microphone, Dr. Halsey glanced at Julie then she took a breath, "As per Naval Code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into the UNSC Special Project, codenamed SPARTAN II." the hall erupted in chatter,"You have been called upon to serve," she continued, "You will be trained . . . and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies.". Julie rubbed her eyes, this is what she always wanted to do, protect others, this is what trey said she would do! "where's my moma!" a child whined but was kept down by a soldier, "This will be hard to understand, but you cannot return to your parents." she said. the room erupted with chatter from the children, Julie struggled to stand up, but was forced back down by Rodriguez. "This place will become your home," Dr. Halsey said, "We shall begin training tomorrow. she walked off the stage as the soldier standing behind her walked up and started barking orders.

Julie felt happy she was handpicked, but saddened at the thought of not seeing her friends/family. "FALL OUT!" the man on the stage said as he walked off the stage, Rodriguez pulled her from her seat, Julie looked around, she wasn't the only person angry, some were crying, others still trying to fight the instructors. the instructors led the children to a giant cafeteria, all the children were separated as the adults went to the other side of the room. Julie sat down and ate warm cereal and an orange, leaving nothing left. once she and the other children were done they were guided to a giant room, filled with rows of cots. Julie's cot was at the end of the room, she crawled onto it and laid down, as did the other children. Rodriguez and the other instructors left the room, Julie looked around at the other children, some looking around at each other, confused.. she also felt sad, confused, and happy at the same time. what she really wanted were answers, there was so many questions to be answered, like why her? why us?.. only time would tell when those questions will be answered. Julie sighed and fell into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 2: BOOTCAMP

**Chapter 2: BOOTCAMP **

**0530 Hours, September 24, 2517 (Military Calendar) / Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex,**

**Planet Reach.**

Julie was jolted from her sleep, literally. "Get up trainee!" Rodriguez shouted standing over her with a baton. Julie got up and stood back as Rodriguez activated the baton, an electric current came from the tip. Julie glared at Rodriguez then looked to the other children around her, they were also getting tussled up by their instructors. a man walked up to the middle of the room, "I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez!" he shouted. Julie sized Mendez up a bit, he had black hair with gray at the sides, he looked gruff, his eyes beady. "these men/women are your instructors, you will listen to them always."

Julie looked back at Rodriguez as she finished laying out Julies clothing, "Thank you" Julie said as Rodriguez nodded. "Get to the showers trainee!" Rodriguez shouted as she whipped the baton to Julies thigh.

Julie fell to the ground but got up running towards the showers, she took off her night gown and kept her dog tag. then ran towards to the conveyor belt with the other children, she covered herself with a soapy foam and washed off in icy water, Julie felt alive again after the water refreshed her. she ran back to her cot and put on some underwear, her socks and her sweats, she then put her hair into a bun and put on her boots, "Double time, to the exit!" Mendez yelled as Julie was the first to run.

Julie looked around, it was beautiful the sky was light purple and she could see two moons in the sky, there was a couple of portable buildings around, but other than that the area they were in was empty. Mendez then barked orders for them to get into rows, Julie got into the second row, Mendez started to do jumping jacks as the children followed his lead, Julie had no problem doing the jumping jacks, she did workouts all the time back at school, one child didn't do anything until an instructor shocked him and told him to "get with the program!" she smirked at what happened. "whats so funny one fourteen!?" Mendez snapped. Julie wiped the smile off her face. "who ever quits gets to run around the base twice!" Officer Mendez shouted.

after the jacks they switched to two hundred knee bends, then another hundred deep squats. Julie started to loose her motivation, she felt as if she was being controlled, as if everyone was in a trance, sometime during the workout, one boy behind her threw up. Mendez then ordered the children to rest as instructors started tossing water bottles, Julie caught a bottle and slugged it down. the water tasted salty but then Mendez told them it was filled with vitamins, to Julie she didn't care, after that workout, she would drink sewer water if she had to.

Julie was sweaty, she loosened her sweats a bit, she didn't like to sweat as she found it uncomfortable. Julie glanced around as all the other children flopped to the ground, she stood up and put her hands up to her head, like her coaches told her to do after a heavy workout. "Very good one fourteen!" Mendez shouted, "you guys should take a page from this trainee!" all the children glanced at Julie, giving her blank stares. Mendez then ordered the trainees to run, the children ran across a river, a run way and then towards a school like building, Julie looked up and saw the UNSC flag. as she looked towards the building she saw the same hologram that was in the auditorium, calling for them to come towards her. "My name is Deja and ill be your teacher, follow me as class starts now", "What!?" Julie said out loud as others groaned, Julie fell to her knees as she got the stun baton by officer Mendez. "or you can continue with the exercises that chief Mendez is doing?"Julie walked up the steps into the building.

the class rooms cool air was refreshing to Julie as she sat down and ate some cookies and apple juice, she enjoyed the fruit snacks most of all. the boy she was sitting beside finished his stuff, and took some other kids food while he wasn't looking, Julie giggled as he smirked. "Gather around children" Deja said in a soothing voice, Julie liked Deja, she reminded her of her mother, gentle and caring. Julie and the children walked towards a large round holo table, there was a big mountain base, a hill, with a large water body below, there were a small group of men, with golden armor, shields and spears that Deja called "Spartans", against hundreds of warriors charging towards them, called "Persians" the children watched as the golden armored men held their ground as they slowly started to push the enemy force back, so far back that the remaining enemy soldiers were forced to fall to their deaths below from the cliff, Julie laughed and cheered like the other children.

"These Spartans were trained from your age in the arts of war and combat, since then they never lost at anything they did". Julie watched as the holographic Spartans cheered from the cliff top. **_"is this what we're destined to be like..?_" **Julie thought to herself and smiled, "Okay children class is adjourned for today. tomorrow, we learn about teamwork, please head to Chief Mendez as he will guide you to the playground". "Playground!?" the boy I was sitting beside said, I looked at his name tag, "John-117". Julie sighed in relief when she heard the word "playground", she can finally sit down and relax or go down the slide a couple times. "Yes,Chief Mendez will guide you there.", the Julie ran out the door towards Mendez, "come on, the playground is a short jog from here." Julie was at the head of the pack **_"gotta get to the swings first!"_. **as Julie looked at the playground, she felt her heart stop. the playground was nothing that Julie has seen in her six years of living, there was tall posts everywhere with nets and bridges connecting them. there were also climbing ropes and baskets.

"Form three lines!", Julie got into the second row. Julie looked towards her left and saw a girl with long blond hair down to her waist and blue eyes, "Annabelle-101" was stenciled on her left chest. as she looked towards her right and saw the same boy who clasped her hand the day before, slick black hair and blue eyes. he held his hands in his pockets as he winked at her and smiled, "Alfonso-109" was stenciled into his left chest on his sweats. "The goal is simple, you and your team needs to get up to the highest tower and ring the bell!" Mendez barked, "What do we win?" John asked, Mendez raised his eyebrow "dinner will be your prize for today." "what's for dinner?" Julie asked. "Corn on the cob..Ice cream, mash potatoes, roast turkey with gravy."

the group of children murmured among themselves, "who ever comes last, goes hungry, prepare yourselves." Mendez said. "I'm Annabelle, Annabelle Starling. we better get that food... ain't no time to be messing around." she said with a debutante southern belle accent, she sounded very feminine and sincere as she spoke, "I'm Julie, Del Campo." Julie held out her hand and shook Anna's hand. Julie felt an arm go around her shoulder, "Hey ladies, I'm Alfonso Lombardi , but you can call me Al.." he smiled showing his well maintained teeth. "Hey Al." Anna said in a flirtatious voice, Anna, Al and Julie walked up to the starting line. Julie felt Al was too much of a hotshot, he spoke like her relatives she went to visit in New York City when her mom took her, they had a lot of spunk in their voices. he was her teammate nonetheless and she had to live with him. "On your mark, get set..Go!" Mendez shouted, Julie, Al Scrambled towards the towers and halted as the bridge flipped, making some children fall into the water below, Al caught caught the bridge and slid it back into place, "C'mon!" he shouted as Anna and Julie ran across the bridge towards a basket, the trio jumped in.

Julie gasped as they almost broke the basket, which would have made them plummet into the muddy water below. the three children pulled the basket halfway up to the bell and got out and rang the bell and slid down towards Chief Mendez, one by one. Julie was impressed at her teammates, didn't have to wait for them once. they had finished second, John alone in front of them. Al let out a cheer as Anna put her hands to her knees, "done sir" Julie said with a big grin on her face. "Impressive one oh one, oh nine and one fourteen." Mendez glanced at them and went back to his check board, the trio and John waited as the rest of the children finished the course. "Alright trainees, double time it to the barracks for dinner, you three.." he pointed to John, another boy and a girl by the names of Sam and Kelly "don't get dinner today." , Anna snickered as Al gave her a light punch. "You finish as team, teamwork comes first always!" Mendez barked "Double time lets go!" Julie ran with her team towards the barracks.

Anna pointed across the cafeteria and laughed at John and his team, out loud in a way Julie couldn't help but giggle as well. Anna's laugh is one of those obnoxious, contagious laughs that once you hear it you join in also, John and his group gave them tired blank stares. Julie dipped a piece of her turkey in gravy and ate it. she sighed at the taste, it tasted like her mothers cooking, she sighed at the thought of her mother, she'd always make the biggest meals for friends and family to come over and enjoy. "Thish my 'riends" Al said with his mouth full, swallowing, "is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...wa-wai-wait.. we are friends right..?" he inquired. "Sure." Julie said with a smile, " S'pose so.." Anna chimed in as they all laughed and toasted their cherry juice into the air.

* * *

**September 26th, 2517**

The next two days were the same as the first. shower and get ready, a series of workouts with the chief, then off to class with DeJa, Julie took a tray of Fruit punch, gummies and cookies, the cookies tasted a little dull, but she didn't mind. Julie then sat beside Anna and Al, she saw Anna wave to another boy, he had blond buzzed hair and blue eyes, he looked exactly like Anna did. "Cyrus-140" was stenciled on his chest, he was sitting beside another boy he sat beside waved back towards them also, "Miles-107" was his name. Julie thought he looked cute, his hair was curly and dark brown and his eyes were hazel. "who is he..?" Al asked politely "That there's Cyrus, my twin brother!" she smiled joyfully and quietly clapped her hands together, "you have a brother?..hm" Julie rubbed her chin, "Mhm, jus' don' hang 'round him all the time is all." Anna responded. as class began, Julie saw John take some food off of peoples trays, she couldn't blame him, she would be hungry also if all she got to have for dinner is a litre of water.., the children gathered around the holo tank to listen in on Dejas lesson. the hologram showed a pack of wolves taking down a giant moose, the wolves stuck to the shadows and pounced when the moose least suspected them to. "Communication is key to success in any team" Deja went on to say, "The most complex of tasks can easily be completed if you work together..well children class is dismissed. be sure to take a PDA with you so I can assign you your homework, you may also work and study with your peers in groups. further along in your training, we will be focusing on Mathematics, Military History and tactics, 21st Century History, Reading and Writing and Science.. please give effort while doing all of your assignments.. failure to do so will earn you double the morning calisthenics you do with Chief Mendez..", the class winced at the thought of extra morning workouts "Yeah.. 'bout that.. we best get workin' when the time comes 'or it. I ain't doin' no more mornin' workouts..I hate math.." Anna crossed her arms and let out a huff, "Well said Annabelle..I'm okay in math.." Julie smirked at her wise crack. "Im very good at math..haha." Al said with pride "I can help you guys..?" "sounds swell Al" anna grabbed three PDAs and gave two to Julie and Al. the trio walked outside and met mendez, "Double time it to the barracks, put your PDAs away and return back to me outside."

The trio ran towards the barracks and into their quarters, they put their PDAs into their individual trunks at the foot of their cots and ran back outside to mendez. Once everyone lined up in front of mendez they marched towards the main building then went inside, they lined up against a wall next to a room. Julie looked up and noticed the white pole striped with red and blue.. they were getting haircuts!, "Eep!" Julie squeaked and held on to her hair, "No no no no, no no!, they ain't takin' my hair away no siree!" she started to wander from the line, until rodriguez brandished her stun baton, it flickered an electric blue colour. "Argh!" she stomped back to her spot and leaned against the wall. "I like my hair this way..." Alfonso slicked his hair back and frowned, they glared at each other for a moment and started to walk nonchalantly to the back of the line, Mendez flicked his baton in their direction and shook his head, Julie swore that she saw him smiling at their dilemma, "I guess we can't go that way.." Julie sighed as the trio gazed back to the door, she gulped as one of the barbers beckoned them inside, the were prodded by their handlers into seats as their barbers prepped them to get their hair cut, "No!" Julie screamed as she was forced down on the chair and her hair cut.

she teared up and huffed, everyone out in the hallway and in the room covered their ears as Annabelle shrieked at the top of her lungs, she headbutted her barber in the jaw then took her scissors and pointed them towards the adults as a weapon "As I said before.., **nobody** ain't cuttin' my hair!" she squared off with three instructors and a barber, they tackled her to the ground and held her down as her hair was cut, she was crying and screaming the whole time, she managed to injure two instructors with cuts and stabs, and gave the third one minor bruises. during the entire fiasco Alfonso and his barber stared at one another "Ugh..make it quick..." he sighed and slumped into his chair.

by the end of their trip to the barbers, everyone stood quiet, fuming, Kelly and Anna were pretty upset, sat against the wall together, Al and the rest of the boys who were done talked quietly to themselves , Cyrus didn't have to get his hair cut due to it "being in military regulations", Mendez's words. Julie leaned against the wall, furious. she wanted to hit someone square in the face, she looked like a boy.. _"I guess I could grow it out later..." _she thought to herself, she noticed that someone tapped her shoulder, it was Miles, "Hey." he said glumly and sat beside her, "Hi Miles" "Hey.. I miss your hair, it looked nice", she smiled softly and blushed slightly "Thanks.". "Alright trainees!, to the playground, double time!" he yelled as everyone got to their feet and began the run to the playground.

It was a new set up unlike before, more ropes, more basket pulleys and less bridges, there was alot of dead end paths. Julie didn't have a problem with this as she knew the direct route after studying the playground for a few minutes. as the Chief said go, Julie, Al and Anna darted ahead of the pack, easily crossing the bridges and avoiding the dead ends. they quickly pulled the basket up to the bell. they each rung it and made their way back down to chief mendez "Good work you three..finished in record time..", they had come first. "I really wish this was an actual playground.." Julie groaned, "I could use some time on the swings.." "I second that Julie" Al patted Julies back and gave her a smile.

as soon as everyone was done, they started back to the barracks crossing an airfield. "Cool! a Pelican!" a boy said with awe as he snuck away from the formation, Julie caught a glimpse of the boys tag "Mike" was his name, she didn't get the numbers. "what are you doing!" Julie whispered harshly as he ran up the hatch, "I'm gonna fly this thing!" he said with a smile and closed the hatch, "That boy must be dumb'er than a sack of 'nuts!" Annabelle teased as the children watched him activate the Pelican. it slowly rose off the ground, "Who told you to stop trainees!" Mendez barked as he took out his baton "I sure as hell didn-" he stopped and looked up as the pelican slowly rose up and flew into the sky, Mendez opened up a COM and whispered into it, not taking his eyes off the pelican, Julie and the children laughed and cheered as the pelican did a loop de loop and almost took off the childrens heads as Mendez told them to duck. two longsword jets took off from the runway to intercept Mike, he kept on flying until he was out of sight. there was a moment of silence as the group of children heard a giant _**"Thump".**_They flinched as they the smoke rise from where Mike crashed, they were lead by Rodriguez to the cafeteria as mendez and other soldiers rushed to the site.

later that evening the children were served pasta with tomato sauce and a vanilla milkshake, the cafe was filled with loud slurps. "I wonder what happened to Mike.." Julie stretched and rolled her shoulders, "Probably dead.." Al replied coldly as Anna laughed and snorted. the cafeteria doors swung open as mendez a handful of trainers and Mike walked in, he had black dust on his face and on his uniform. the room was silent as everyone stared at him, expecting to him to say something. he put his hands into fists and jumped into the air "That was awesome!" he yelled ecstatically as the children laughed, he was then escorted to a table by himself without anything to eat. Julie wondered how he got off so easily, as soon as everyone had finished, they were ordered to take a shower then to change into their pyjamas which were black sweats. she checked her PDA, nothing was sent for homework. she held on to her brothers chain, and drifted asleep.

Al rolled over to the right side of his cot a to face Anna's, "Psst, Annabelle.. you awake?", she groaned and turned to face him, she then rolled her eyes and turned back, "Anna?..Anna?,Anna?.. Anna...?An-" "What!?" she whispered, "..Night.." he squeaked as anna scowled, and rolled back over into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

**Halsey Note: John-117s actions two days ago earned him the position of squad leader, I ordered Mendez to do another wilderness exercise, I want to see others emerge out of the pack.. This game should get subjects 114, 109, and 101 and to stand out the most, she's unpredictable, nimble and keen..while 101 and 109 are "Aggressive" and "Troublemaking" ..anything can happen today.**

**Chapter 3: Manhunt**

**0530 hours, July 15th 2519 (Military Calendar), Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex.**

**Planet Reach, **

As the lights came on, Julie rushed out of her bed, fixed the sheets and stood at attention. Rodriguez paced between the children's cots, looking for any and all errors, she stared down Julie with her reflectionless dark brown aviators, she still had a young look to her, her hair now up in a bun. she moved on to the next row giving Julie camouflage fatigues with a parka, so she assumed they were going to do the same thing they did two days ago. the way they put a hurt on those people guarding the pelican was priceless..until they found out they were military. John was also promoted to Squad leader, his team, Blue team, consists of Sam him and Kelly, no one else got a team yet. Julie wondered when she'd get to lead a team of her own, preferably with Anna and Alfonso. she took a shower and came back to put on her clothing, she looked into a mirror and smiled, her hair was growing back, nice and full. She still looked boyish, which she didn't like as much. She then walked up to John to ask him about todays exercise , they had one hour to prepare and socialize. "What's going on today?", "I'm not too sure Julie..something called 'Homefree Manhunt', should be fun!" he said as he walked to check on kelly and sam. Julie walked up to her trunk and opened it up, she took out her PDA and searched up "Manhunt", apparently its a early 21st century game, where people have to hide from the hunter, it looks like Mendez is going to have a field day with them.."Manhunt..hm I wonder what mendez has in store for us.." Alfonso peered over Julies shoulder then gulped at the thought of Mendez's plans. "Mornin'.." Anna came and hugged Al from behind and moved to Julies side, Al rubbed his shoulder and blushed. "Morning." Julie looked up and smiled. "What's the plan for today..?" Anna looked down at the PDA, "Hmm manhunt, us three should do mighty fine.." "You know how to play manhunt..?" Julie inquired, " 'course.., play it with my older brothers all the time, your job: don't get caught" she smiled and rubbed Al and her's shoulders, Julie smiled and sighed, Anna knew about the game, plus she has a lot of outdoor experience. "Alright Recruits!" Rodriguez barked, to the Mess hall for breakfast, then double time it to the airfield for briefing", everyone got up and went to the mess hall.

As soon as they walked in, the aroma of the food being cooked hit the children. "Mmm" Julie sighed and saw the tray of breakfast sausages and pancakes, the children quickly tore through their meal and ran to the airfield, where Chief Mendez was waiting for them. "Pile in!" he barked as all 75 children ran into the pelican and took their seats. the pelican roared to life and flew to the wilderness preserve.

Julie looked at the snowy mountains, and the river flowing down it. she saw a pack of wolves move across it. Mendez came out from the cockpit, his hair became more gray, but still retained its black colour. everyone rose and stood at attention, "At ease recruits.." everyone sat down, "we're going to play a little game recruits..Manhunt, or hide and seek. the rules are fairly simple, I'm going to drop you in the wilderness like before.. give you a couple minutes to find a good hiding spot with your team, then me and the other instructors will hunt you down.." the cabin murmured with approval, Mendez took out his sidearm and loaded it with a red dart, "Toxic rounds, if your shot with one of these, you're out.., and you will be taken to Dejas classroom to wait until the game is over. we're also getting dogs to aid us in hunting you down. at least one of your teammates has to be in the "safe zone" which is the military bases north entrance., in order to win. only one team can win, we are dropping you guys one hour away from base..141 hand out the region maps!" "Yes Sir!" Cal barked as she handed out maps. the pelican dropped in altitude, "114, 109,101!" mendez barked "Sir!" the trio snapped a smart salute, "You're up!", Al hopped off the pelican, before Annabelle came off she put a finger on the brim of her nose and flicked it off, she got what julie told her to get. "114 you're up!" as Julie was about to hop off Mendez put a arm on her shoulder "..Keep an eye out for wolves 114, they tend to get really violent this time of year.." "Noted sir!" and with that Julie hopped off the pelican and joined anna and al as the pelican roared off to another location.

The trio ran into the brush out of sight, Julie looked around and then asked "you got the stuff?", Anna raised an eyebrow and smiled " 'Course I got the stuff..." she took ten packets of beef jerky out of her right pocket, and brandished a knife out of her left boot, she twirled the knife with her hand, giving off a reflection. she also took out wire, a M6D pistol and TTR rounds. Julie flashed a mischievous look, "Where did you get those?.." Al asked, "Took some off'a them supply crates in the pelican" she winked, Julie opened the map and the trio huddled around and observed. "So.. the mountains are northwest of here..." she pointed her finger to the mountain range, then to the blue line running through. "I noticed there was a river running through it, we should follow the stream towards the mountain valley, and back to base I guess.. stick to the shadows and keep quiet." "Gotcha'" Annabelle gave Julie a sly smirk, Anna was going to have fun this this she could tell, Alfonso nodded in understanding, "Alright lets move..".

The trio packed up their gear and kept to the bushes, a while passed as Julie looked around and took a breath. the beauty of the forest was breathtaking, breathtaking enough that you could stop what you're doing and take it all in, but she didn't have time for that. As they were running through the brush, Julie heard rustling, she held her hand up to signal hold position.

Julie crept up to the shaky bush and peered in, only to find Miles and Cyrus, "Hey Julie!" Miles said cheerfully, "Hi Miles.." Julies face lit up as she smiled, "where's Mike..? isn't he paired with you guys?", "He went with Jai and Adrianna..". "Hmm, I guess you can roll with us?" Julie said smiling, "Sweet" Cyrus chimed in, "this is going to be cool!, us four takin' on the world!", Julie noticed his accent was lighter than Annabelles. "SHH!, quiet! I hear somethin'.." Anna said gritting her teeth. the children looked over their cover and found all the other children, walking in formation lead by John, "Psst John!" Julie whispered as he looked over in their direction, before he could say something, honking could be heard in the distance, and some of the children crumpled to the ground, hit by TTR. the children out in the open scrambled to cover and fled like gazelles being poached as mendez was driving a warthog customized for troop transport, instructors took aim and fired, Julie ducked as a stray round hit the tree behind her, "Run!" she ordered as Alfonso, Anna, Miles and Cyrus bolted towards the mountain range, they slid into a ditch beside the river and squeezed against the dirt wall as children ran away and were pursued by instructors and dogs. Julie peered over and saw multiple of her stunned friends getting put in the back of pelicans, She and her group winced as two instructors came close to her position backs turned to them, she and her group could possibly drop the dime on them.

"Are they the only ones..?" Julie asked Miles as he peered over the top, the pelican roared off, and the warthogs moved on to another area, it was them and the two guards that were left. "Yeah.." he whispered back, "Alrighty.. Anna, Al, go around and blindside the other guy while we three take the other one down.." Julie shrugged her shoulders and nodded to Anna as she moved from the ditch with all. Cyrus let out a yell as Julie, He and Miles tugged the instructor on the right as he toppled down into the ditch with them, they kept stomping on him until he didn't move anymore. Anna and Al jumped on top of the other instructor and ran him straight into a tree, knocking him out cold. they dragged their unconscious bodies down into the ditch, one of the instructors started moving and all four of them started stomping on him more, Anna pulled the M6 out of her pocket and shot him in the thigh. "Alright.. that does it, lets check them for anything we need.." Julie said wiped the dirt from from her cheek. the group lifted one of the instructors over, "Carlson" was his name, the other "Sanders", both were known to talk a lot instead of doing their jobs, julie undid their utility belts and pulled their Sidearms out of their holsters, and snagged a couple TTRs. Julie handed Anna and Al a pistol barrel first, "here, Anna I know you can climb trees so I want you to keep to the top and scout ahead, we'll keep a slower pace behind you, drop down when you see something. "mhm, i'll keep my eyes peeled." Anna hopped into the air and grabbed a branch, then parkoured from branch to branch, Julie and the rest of the group kept a steady jog in the bushes. "So far so good.." Miles whispered, "too good..". Julie flinched as Anna dropped from the tree above, "We gotta warthog comin' our way!" she whispered harshly, "what are we gonna do..?" Cyrus inquired, Julie looked around and found a fallen log, she pushed at it and found it was light enough. "guys, help me push this onto the road", "WHAT?!" the boys said gasping for air as Anna gripped julies shoulder "Wai-..what?, what are ya plannin' t'do?" "Getting us a ride.." Julie gave off devious smirk as everyones look of confusion turned into a look of mischievous intention.

Rodriguez's warthog sped down the dirt road, looking for any stragglers from the ambush previously. her radio COM came to life, "Rodriguez, did you find any of the children..?" "No chief, no sign of them yet.." She snapped off the warthogs COM Radio, "This should be the easiest game of hide and seek yet.." one of the instructor beside her said "You said it Nantz..", "These kids have no "ingenu-.. is that subject 114!?" Nantz gasped as he saw Julie sitting a tree branch, she slyly saluted and pointed down towards her feet, Rodriguez's eyes exploded out of her head in shock as she saw a giant log in the way of the warthog "There's ingenuity for you!, turn left!" she screamed at Nantz to stop. too late, they crashed into the log and tumbled out of the warthog. Nantz groggily looked up, only to be staring at a barrel of a gun and four kids staring down at him. "Toodles.." Anna jeered as Julie smirked and shot Nantz in the chest. Rodriguez shakily got up and stumbled to the ground, blood running down her cheek, she was out cold. the group let out a cheer and gave out a series of highfives, "that was great Julie!" Miles said lightly punching her shoulder, she blushed and shyly said "thanks..", "Aw'right, lets see what we got 'ere" Anna said rubbing her hands together. she took Nantz and Rodriguez's pistol and tossed it to al and Miles, "Sweet.." the boys said in unison. Cyrus checked the back of the warthog and found another M6 with a lot of TTR, "Jackpot.." he said with a big grin on his face. Annabelle dragged Nantz and Rodriguez and laid them near the river, the two adults groaned in pain as the children inspected the warthog, no damage.. Anna came around and patted the front of the car, "y'know, we're gonna get in'a heap o' trouble.." Julie smiled scoffed and replied "but it was worth it.." "Fair 'nuff.. we better skedattle.. can any of y'all even reach the gas pedal..?" "I can!" Miles said eagerly, "Okay." Julie said in agreement, "Miles will press the gas while I steer?", "Sure..", "Okay.. pile in and lets get back to base!".the group got into the warthog and set north.

It had gotten colder as they drove through the valley, "so far so good.." Julie giggled, "Anna check the radio and see what's going on.." "Sure thing.." Anna tuned the radio until she heard someone speak, "So far sixty of the trainees have been captured" it was Mendez, "keep looking for the rest..", "we can do this.. how far until we reach the base..?" Al asked, "umm..less than an hour away.." Cyrus replied, "I guess we can stop for a quick snack..Miles gas please." she asked innocently as she pulled over to the river side. the group sat beside the riverbed and anna tossed each of them a strip of beef jerky, Al dipped his face into the river and drank a load of water, then came back out shouting "We're almost there!, just another half ho-" "SHH!.." Julie raised her finger to her lips, she heard a growling sound..Anna tapped her shoulder and pointed towards the bushes. four wolves appeared and let out low growls,Cyrus ran into the back of the 'hog waving his hands as Miles and Al drew their weapons and fired at two wolves chasing cyrus, stunning them. the lead wolf pounced on Julie like prey. Julie screamed as the wolf bit her left side, the wound oozed blood, she gulped as she reached out for a fist size rock just out of her reach. as the wolf was about to take another bite, she closed its mouth shut,and slammed the rock repeatedly into its head. the wolf wounded, tried to retreat but was grabbed by the tail and slammed the rock into the wounded side of the wolfs head, caving its skull in. she kicked the wolfs lifeless body to the side as she looked over at Anna, her face was bloodied, it wasn't her blood though.. it was the wolfs. Cyrus, Miles and Alfonso, dragged her off the mauled up body of the wolf, riddled by stab wounds. she ripped its fangs out and put them in her pocket, then spat on the wolf and turned away, holding her forearm. "That wolf is deader'n a doornail..still, put up one helluva' fight.." Anna said rolling her neck, "Julie are you alright?!" Miles said running towards her side, the others followed, "Yeah..I guess Mendez was right..haha." she smiled and walked to the back of the warthog, she took out gauze and rolled it around her waist, she then fixed Anna's forearm. "thank god for first aid class.." Julie huffed, "C'mon, lets get out of here.." "Right." the group said in unison as they mounted the warthog.

"We got them all..I think.." instructor Smith said to Mendez. Mendez took a head count and his face turned sour,a warthogs horn could be heard in the distance. he squinted his eyes and ran to the doorway, "lets go trainees!" he barked as all the children kept pace behind him. he ran outside and towards the north exit, everyone skidded to halt, "Hey sir.. miss us?" Julie gave a sly smile and leaned against the hood of the warthog. Mendez and the other instructors stood like statues, motionless and confused while the other children cheered and surrounded Julie, Al, Anna, Cyrus and Miles. "where's Rodriguez, Nantz and Sanders and Carlson.." Smith inquired as Mendez's COM unit beeped, "Chief, we found the four missing trainers.. they were pretty beat up.. we're bringing them back to base to get checked up" "Alright keep me posted.." , he snapped the COM off. he raised an eyebrow at Julie, he was shocked at what eight year old's could accomplish, but then again, these were not average eight year olds..

Later that evening Julie came into Chief Mendez's office and stood at attention, holding her side every few seconds, the room had an intimidating aura as smoke filled the air. Chief Mendez spun around on his chair with a cigar in his mouth, "Sir!" Julie painfully saluted, "At ease trainee 114..", Julie nodded and put her hands behind her back and stood straight. "hello 114..", Doctor Halsey patted Julies back and sat in a chair cross legged. "Ma'am.." Julie nodded in respect. Mendez cleared his throat and dryly said "Julie-114.., why did you steal UNSC equipment? which consists of a warthog, five M6 pistols and over a hundred rounds, a knife and rations..?", Julie let out a smile and said "You didn't say we couldn't use equipment to win sir..", He nodded and continued, "Why did you injure your instructors?" , "Sir, with all due respect.. they were a threat at that moment, they stood in the way between my squad and winning, so we dealt with them.." "who said you had a squad in the first place or that you were the leader of said squad..?" "I never said I was the leader sir..even though I may have directed most actions during that time." "what of Cyrus and Miles? they weren't in your usual grouping..?" "Mike left them for Jai and Adrianna, so I took them in. I never leave people behind", Mendez grunted, then looked at Julie as she was clutching her side and said, "where did you get that wound trainee?", Julie smirked and replied "Just interacting with those wolves sir.", Julie witnessed a rare smile off of the chiefs face, "I hope you can do calisthenics tomorrow..", "Of course sir". The doctor cleared her throat as the chief and Julie turned to her, "This was exactly what I was expecting from those three..all of their personalities added together is the perfect recipe for trouble.." she laughed and drank from her mug, Julie let out a weak smile and turned back to Mendez. "Trainee 114, you're a squad leader now, numbers 140 and 107 are now apart of your squad, designated: purple team. keep your mouth shut about this for now.. you're dismissed" "Yes sir!" she saluted walked out the room taking one last glance at Dr. Halsey, the doctor nodded at her and smiled as she left.

Mendez made the announcement at dinner that night dividing all the children into teams, we would work and eat with our teammates at all times, As Julies name was called as purple team leader, she got pats on the back, "Good job julie." John said giving her a light punch, "the only person in here that will be second to me always..", "Sure John.." Julie chuckled, grabbed a tray of, a chocolate bar, meat shells and fruit punch and sat with her newly formed team. "Purple team eh.." Alfonso said stuffing his face, "Mhm.." julie said taking a drink of her fruit punch, "I'm still surprised we didn't get into trouble.." Anna said eating her chocolate bar. Miles raised his cup of fruit punch, "To purple team, the best team in this military complex!" everyone raised their cups, "To purple team" they said in unison. Julie smiled, Julie had a good feeling about this, with them five together, nothing was impossible.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Karate Spartan **

**2300 hours, November 24th 2520 (Military Calendar) Epsilon Eridani System, Reach military complex**

**Planet reach, **

**_Diary log 01, _**

**_Name: Julie-114 _**

_Today was a different day..I'll tell you that.., we woke up and 0730 hours, Mendez gave us time to change, socialize and eat, we stood at attention as rodriguez paced by our cots. she stared me down as I saluted, she nodded and tossed me a gray short trench coat up to my waist and black fatigue pants with boots, I went to take a shower brush my teeth and got dressed. I looked in the mirror today and noticed that I didn't really look nine years old..I guess we could thank Mendez and the doctors for giving us vitamins and nonstop workouts.. I was thankful that the chief let me keep my hair medium sized and curly, I also enjoyed the fact that the instructors installed round tables in our barracks for us to sit down and study or relax.. we were required by mendez to have morning meetings between squad leaders only, to go over the days events, so we did. apparently we were to have light calethstenics, target practice and rifle assembling, class with Deja, and martial arts class. we left the table and went to our respected squads. I checked on Anna and Alfonso to see if they did yesterdays math homework, and they finished. Cyrus and Miles were just finishing up, no need to check up on them. _

_we walked to the cafe and sat at our table, we had three different fruit choices, oatmeal and three different kinds of fruit juices, Anna kept going on and on about her mothers porridge and how it was the best porridge every made. haha. I love oatmeal, add a little brown sugar maybe even a few apple slices and you're good to go... after we ate we went to the field and stood at attention while the UNSC flag was raised. then we moved right into our morning work out with Mendez, I found the workouts more manageable as the days went by, like when we do mountain climbers and 50 70 and 100% suicides across the field and back..I still don't like pushups.. hm. It was my job to toss out water, so I did, I know the water is filled with minerals and vitamins but they could put it in a freezer or something... it's always warm and I notice it doesn't taste as good when they leave it out._

_ we ran to the main building and came into what looked like a factory with long desks and chairs, we were instructed to pick up any weapon we choose and disassemble it, I chose the M392 or the "DMR" for short.. Anna chose a M739.. the gun was almost twice her size, haha, "Are you sure you can handle that trainee..?" Mendez said to her as she replied "Don't worry 'bout little 'ol me sir..", Al and Miles just took basic assault rifles as Cyrus took a sniper, Mendez said these guns were modified to serve our dexterity, so they were a little bit lighter than the actual models soldiers would get. _

_we were then ordered to disassemble and reassemble our weapons and report to the firing range, it took me about five minutes to assemble and reassemble my DMR, my team was finished after blue team as we waited for everyone else to get done. as everyone finished we walked out into the target range, Mendez told us that we would be shooting moving ballistic gel torsos filled with blood, some would explode if they were shot in certain areas, that got me excited more than anything else. we got on our ear defenders and got told to stand in a row against sandbags and get comfortable, a whole bunch of dummies came out from the ground, some were standing still while others were moving. people started opening fire, I chose a moving target and fired some shots at it, its head exploded..I must've gotten a headshot!, I looked at Anna as she was laying on her stomach unloading her SAW, she fired like a full time experienced soldier..I was expecting her to spray bullets all over the place.. I got ordered by rodriguez to keep shooting, as I shot, I felt a lot of kick back, but less than the last time we did target practice, I managed to take out a couple dozen dummies, some exploded.. Cyrus handled the sniper better than I had thought, he was hitting targets so far off I don't think I could reach them if I tried, if I did they would be not lethal.. his shots were so fast..and the targets went down as soon as they came up... him and Linda!.. he's got a lot of skill with that gun.. Im glad he's on my squad._

_Mendez had rated me 48.5 on out of 50, for both my rifle assembling and target practice, he says I should aim the crosshairs upwards and faraway targets to ensure lethal shots. other than that I did fine.. but I could've done better... when everyone was packing up I saw higher ranking officers running over to Linda and Cyrus, we stood at attention and saluted as they ran by, they were probably impressed at how good they were with snipers.. Cyrus later told us that they were tested with further dummies and faster moving ones.. but he still got them anyways._

_In Dejas math period we learned about probability with a military twist, she made a holographic squad of ODSTs moving down an alleyway in a city, and asked us the probabilities of the certain situations they would come up against..which was pretty easy. Then in history we learned about the early 21st century, and how technologically sound society was back then, we learned that this was the era of information, we learned about different trends also... people back then must of had a lot of fun back then..aha. once classes were over Deja assigned us a case study on the 21st century, Mendez then ordered us back to the main building, into the dome area, Instructor McKay and Anderson was waiting for us, McKay.. he was my favorite instructor.. he was good to spar with also. he always teaching me how to better myself, it upset me when he won our sparring matches. we took off our over coats and got on our karate gi's , we all practiced on punching bags, everyone was going hard. I almost died of laughter as Anna broke the punching bag off its chain with a powerful force palm, she was the best out of all of us when it came to kickboxing, that was last week though. Instructor McKay called us into his area and asked for someone to spar with, I rose my hand and got onto the mat with him, Carris took on Anderson. _

_I bowed as a sign of readiness and taunted him beckoning him to come over to me, he smiled and sprinted towards me, he threw a volley of punches as I dodged and gave him a swift kick to the knee, he gave me a roundhouse kick, it sent me back a little bit, as he set up for a spin kick, I grabbed his leg mid spin and brought my elbow down on the knee I kicked, he fell onto the ground, I then gave him a head lock. he tapped as a sign of submission, he told me I did a good job and beckoned Al to join him on the mat, I went over to the other mat with Carris and instructor, they were going at it real hard..Anderson was winning, he had her in a pin.. until she reversed him and threw him.. there was a loud uneasy snap, as he dropped to the ground. I ran over to him and checked him, his upper chest area was distorted. I checked his pulse and he was gone... I shouted for a medic as Miles comforted Carris as she held her hands together and cried. it was an uneasy sight.. Anderson was a good man, he always addressed us by name... I haven't seen someone so strong as Carris was..Ill make sure I dont spar with her anytime soon.. the image of his body is still running through my mind, I guess he's in a better place now..  
_

_Everything else planned for the day was canceled, so we studied in our barracks and some others went to the gym and did workouts. we looked on as Mendez came inside our barracks and kneeled down to Carris and spoke privately..then left. I came over to her and asked if she were alright and she gave me a nod.. I guess the chief didnt want to punish her.. she'll bounce back I guess. _

_Tonight for dinner we had grilled chicken fillets and baked potatoes, with vanilla cake for dessert!, the frosting tasted so good.. the cafeteria was full of chatter from what happened today with Anderson, some people asked if he was actually dead, or hurt. Those who were when it happened already knew the answer.. after we ate, Miles cleared the table as we headed back to the barracks shower and finish up our homework, it was pretty easy no one had trouble with it. after our homework was done we all sat around and spoke to one another until the lights dimmed, and here I am now writing this diary, I guess I should get some sleep now, staying up won't help me with Mendez's morning workouts.._


End file.
